Third party capture is a term often used in the legal industry, particularly within personal injury departments, to describe the method used by the defendant’s insurers who try and settle any personal injury claim directly with the injured party. It has been proven time and time again that settling a claim this way can lead to the injured party losing out!
The defendant’s insurers will obtain contact details of the injured party when their insurers notifies them of the accident. It is at this stage that the defendant’s insurers will attempt to contact the injured party in attempt to settle any personal injury claim as soon as possible, normally whilst you are still suffering from the initial shock of the accident.
Settling a claim through third party capture will result in you – the injured party losing out – we say this for the following reasons:-
* Conflict of interest! How can the defendants insurers/solicitors possibly work in the injured party’s best interests?
* The defendant’s insurers will often make the injured party a financial offer, without the injured party being medically examined and without receiving a prognosis of when the injured party is likely to have fully recovered. This often leads to the injured party receiving a considerably lower amount of compensation than they are actually entitled to.
* The defendant’s insurers often sell on your personal injury claim to solicitors in a bidding war. This in turn eats into the financial budget of running your claim resulting in a poor service and your claim being handled by unqualified and untrained staff.
In order to avoid becoming a victim of third party capture you must always seek independent legal advice, from a specialist firm. This will result in your claim being correctly conducted by a professional and qualified solicitor from the outset.